LANDISVILLE — The shots were falling for the Vikings early in their Lancaster-Lebanon League quarterfinal bout against Hempfield.

Northern Lebanon opened with four first-quarter 3-pointers to take a 12-9 lead midway through the opening frame against the Section One champion Black Knights.

But the physically and athletically gifted Knights took their fair share of punches, only to give ‘em right back, pulling away in the second half to defeat the visiting Vikings, 58-41, on Monday night to advance into Wednesday’s semifinals.

Although Northern Lebanon drops to 15-8 overall with the loss, the Vikings gain a little experience and certainly some self-respect having gone toe-to-toe versus some top-notch talent heading into next week’s District Three tournament.

“I don’t think Hempfield took us lightly, that’s for sure,” said Vikings’ coach Chris George. “That’s a team that’s used to being in a lot of big battles. We gave them a little run there for a while, but again, they’re used to games like that against teams with bigger, faster and stronger kids than we have.”

But the Knights closed the quarter on a 6-0 run and would never trail again. Michigan Daub’s second-quarter trey and Light’s floater at the rim in the waning seconds of the half kept the Vikings within 29-24 at the break.

Northern Lebanon shot 6-for-9 from 3-point land in the first half before the Vikings started to find some better rhythm in the paint as the contest wore on.

Cameron Gensler, for one, notched all seven of his points in the second half, including a few trips to the foul line.

“I think we’re second in the whole L-L in terms of foul shots taken, so we get to the bucket,” George said. “They (the Knights) were getting up in us, especially after we knocked a few down and then they really got up into our shorts and they almost dared us to attack the rim. We would’ve liked to finish a little better at times, but we showed we can play our game against anybody.”

Hempfield countered, however, with athletic big-men Ryan Moffatt (16 points) and David Martin Robinson (10 points). The Knights also got 10 fourth-quarter points from Anthony Alston (15 points) as they expanded their lead to as much as 19 points late in the game.

All in all, it adds up to a learning experience for a Vikings’ program making just its second L-L postseason appearance since 1993. And the Vikings can look forward to hosting a District Three Class 4A first-rounder next Monday night.

“I don’t think we leave here in a bad place,” George said. “I think we take a little confidence with how we played in the first half or so and look at the fact that we really missed some big opportunities. Hopefully we can learn from this and (take it) into districts.”

“It’s on our home court, which is nice to be back home for a playoff game,” George said. “I don’t know if Northern Lebanon has ever hosted one on the boys’ side, so that will be neat.”

“At the end of the day, it’s Elco,” George added. “They beat us the last time and their staff do a great job. They’re going to have those kids ready. We’re going to have to bring our ‘A’ game like we did tonight and step it up a little bit.”